VIDEO: Storm breach turns Eastern Shore lake into salty bay

Big Lake, also known as Misener’s Lake, is dealing with an influx of salt water, which is threatening people’s wells. (GOOGLE EARTH)

Homeowners in Lower East Chezzetcook are at odds with the Department of Natural Resources over how to deal with the latest hit from rising sea levels and increasingly powerful storms.

High waves ripped open a breach in the natural stone berm at Long Beach that was protecting Misener’s Lake, or Big Lake as locals call it. The breach widened after another storm surge last week, turning the freshwater lake into a tidal body of salt water dotted with dead freshwater fish and threatening to contaminate the wells and septic systems around the lake.

Residents are increasingly frustrated by the Department of Natural Resources’ refusal to take emergency action to close the breach. But DNR officials insist they don’t want to act until the completion of a study of the entire 1.6-kilometre berm, which could take several more weeks.

At an emergency meeting on March 5 at MLA Kevin Murphy’s office in Porters Lake, homeowners begged representatives from DNR, Transportation and Environment to act quickly before it becomes physically or financially impossible to close the breach. Murphy said he would take the lead in pushing the various agencies to act.

DNR’s regional director for the central region, Gordon Delano, called in to the meeting by phone and agreed to come down to the lake to inspect the breach and meet with residents. The meeting took place outdoors Wednesday at 11 a.m. in a backyard looking out at the high tide boiling through the breach.

Delano heard that one of the reasons homeowners were expecting quick action was because they had fought this fight in 2010, when a storm opened a breach. Homeowner Marguerite Wade explained to Delano how quickly DNR had acted then. “I talked to DNR,” Wade said. “They called me the next morning and said contractors were coming. A couple of days later, the machinery rolled in and they closed it up.” Pointing out the area next to the current breach, Wade said, “Where that breach was in 2010, there’s grass on it now.”

The contractor was Lake Major’s Fred Dunphy, who had gained highly relevant experience repairing levees in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Wade said Dunphy had asked DNR to reinforce the area where the current breach has appeared, but DNR didn’t want to spend the money. (Several people said the whole 2010 project cost only $10,000. Dunphy’s office said he did not want to comment.)

DNR has not moved so fast this time. A storm in early January punched a small hole in the barrier beach. DNR commissioned the engineering consulting firm CBCL to do a study of the entire berm. In the meantime, the breach had begun to fill in naturally, until the most recent storm widened and deepened it.

Delano explained that DNR was not planning to act until CBCL turned in its report. “We have contracted experts in ocean modelling,” Delano said, “and a report will be prepared in the near future to assess the risks at the site.” He estimated that this report would be available sometime in mid-March. “Once we get the report back, DNR staff will meet internally, discuss recommendations, and determine a course of action.” Delano insisted that DNR didn’t “want to do band-aid solutions. We want to have a long-term study in place.”

Residents don't want to wait.

One lost his well in January and now has a cistern in the basement. Neighbours said Wednesday that another homeowner’s well has been contaminated by salt water flooding into the lake with each high tide. At low tide the lake is half empty.

And there is another storm on the way.

They want at least a temporary fix to prevent further damage.

“Wait and see, wait and see,” said one man turning his back and walking away.

“All I see is more f---king ocean.”

Doug Bethune, a 45-year local, turned Delano’s band-aid remark around: “The tide is ripping in and out of there every six hours,” Bethune said. “We need a band-aid now so we don’t bleed to death. We can do the surgery later.”